Peak
3
Weeks
23
Score
3,450
Chart Year
1989
The music video for "If I Could Turn Back Time", directed by American television director Marty Callner, takes place on board the battleship USS Missouri. It depicts Cher and her band performing a concert for the ship's crew. The video was filmed in Los Angeles on Friday night, June 30, 1989, while the ship was stationed at the former Long Beach Naval Shipyard at Pier D. In the video, the band plays on the foredeck, and the ship is rigged with spotlights, light racks and strobes. Cher's son, Elijah Blue Allman, 12 at the time, appears as one of the band's guitarists wearing dark glasses and a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt. The Department of the Navy had granted permission for the music video shoot because of its potential for boosting Navy recruitment: the Navy did not have a budget for TV ads in 1989. The Navy initially selected the battleship USS New Jersey for the video. However, New Jersey was out to sea when Callner needed to do an initial site survey, so he toured her sister ship, Missouri, instead. During Callner's visit, Missouri's public affairs officer, Lieutenant Mark Walker, convinced him to change the filming location to Missouri.[8] Cher's outfit for the original video, a fishnet body stocking under a black one-piece bathing suit that left most of her buttocks (and a tattoo of a butterfly) exposed, proved very controversial, and many television networks refused to show the video. MTV first banned the video, and later played it only after 9 PM. A second version of the video was made, including new scenes and less overtly sexual content than the original. The outfit and risque nature of the video were a complete surprise to the Navy, who expected Cher to wear a jumpsuit for the concert, as presented on storyboards during original discussions with producers. The sailors were already in place and the band had begun playing when Cher emerged in her outfit.[8] Lieutenant Commander Steve Honda from the Navy's Hollywood Liaison office requested Callner briefly suspend shooting and convince Cher to change into more conservative attire, but Callner refused. The Navy received criticism for allowing the video shoot, especially from World War II veterans who saw it as a desecration of a national historic site that should be treated with reverence: USS Missouri was the site of the Empire of Japan's surrender on September 2, 1945, thus ending World War II. No Navy officials were disciplined for their role in supporting the video, although reportedly the Secretary of the Navy briefly considered firing the captain of USS Missouri.[8] In 2003, Cher released her Living Proof: Farewell Tour concert on DVD which included an official "If I Could Turn Back Time" remix video.
"If I Could Turn Back Time" is a showstopper for Cher, one of her biggest hits and most popular live songs. Written by Diane Warren, it's rousing but also contrite, with Cher apologizing to an ex lover, letting him know she'd like a do-over. There aren't many anthems with this subject matter, but Cher and Warren pulled it off. When you think of this song, you probably call up an image of Cher's tattooed butt. That's because of the music video, where she donned a new look: leather jacket, fishnet stockings, and a thong. Cher has dressed provocatively (and quite fashionably) throughout her career, but this was unexpected. After all, she was 43 years old and a serious actress with an Oscar for her 1987 film Moonstruck. It wasn't just the video; Cher wore the same get-up when she performed the song, including at the MTV Video Music Awards. Her butt became a hot topic and garnered her lots of publicity. She leaned into it, promoting a series of 1991 shows in Atlantic City with ads headlined "Cher's Back," showing her fundaments. The Atlantic City Press ran it with the word "censored" over her butt, amplifying the promotional impact much further. The "If I Could Turn Back Time" music video was filmed on board the battleship USS Missouri while it was stationed at the former Long Beach Naval Shipyard at Pier D along with the crew. Directed by Marty Callner, the extras were actual Navy sailors who all seemed to be enjoying the show. At one point, she mounts one of the big guns, albeit in a more sensible outfit. Cher recalled to Q magazine: December 2013: "The 'If I Could Turn Back Time' video we shot for days. There was a whole story – I climbed up stuff, I was running away from a lover. I was in a cage, in a speedboat... And when the director got to the edit, he just said, 'F this, here's the money (shot)' – me on the battleship with the sailors. They were real sailors too. They were funny. They kept calling me 'ma'am.'" The music video wasn't all that racy by MTV standards but it proved very controversial because of the Navy association. Cher cavorting on the historic ship rankled some viewers who felt it was degrading. MTV ran the video for about two months before they succumbed to pressure and nightparted it, airing it only after 9 p.m. Cher had three distinct musical comebacks; this song came in the middle of her second. In 1965, Cher charted twice as a solo artist and five times with Sonny & Cher, including the #1 "I Got You Babe." The hits dried up by 1968, but in 1971 Cher started working with producer Snuff Garrett and ran off a string of three #1 hits: "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves," "Half-Breed," and "Dark Lady." These songs had an edge, dealing with characters on the fringes. Her career went downhill later in the '70s; she did land a disco hit in 1979 with "Take Me Home," but mothballed her music in the early '80s as she became a leading lady in films like Silkwood and Mask. In 1987 she staged her second comeback as a musician when an executive at Geffen Records named John Kalodner convinced her to sign with the label and give it a go. Her self-titled album was released that year and landed her a hit with "I Found Someone." That same year, she starred in three movies: The Witches of Eastwick, Moonstruck, and Suspect. "If I Could Turn Back Time" followed the Peter Cetera duet "After All" as a single from her next album, Heart Of Stone, which told over 3 million copies, giving Cher her first multi-Platinum album. Cher's next album, Love Hurts, didn't do nearly as well and her 1995 album It's a Man's World stiffed hard, setting the stage for comeback #3 in 1998 when she released the #1 "Believe," the first Auto-Tuned hit. Report this ad Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter magazine, Diane Warren said Cher hated the song and she had to force her to sing it. "I held her leg down during a session," the songwriter recalled, "and said, 'You have to record it!'" According to Warren, Cher's response was, "F- you, bitch! You're hurting my leg! OK, I'll try it." However, once Cher had recorded the tune, "She gave me this look like, 'You were right.'" Diane Warren wrote or co-wrote six songs on the album, including the next single, "Just Like Jesse James." She was one of the hottest songwriters in the game, with a CV that includes "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship and "I Get Weak" by Belinda Carlisle. In 2010, 64-year-old Cher presented the Video of the Year award at the MTV Video Music Awards wearing the same outfit she wore in this video. Under most circumstances, her get-up would have been the one getting the most buzz, but the winner was Lady Gaga (for "Bad Romance"), who accepted wearing a dress made of meat.
If I could turn back time If I could find a way I'd take back those words that'll hurt you and you'd stay I don't know why I did the things I did I don't know why I said the things I said Pride's like a knife it can cut deep inside Words are like weapons, they wound sometimes I didn't really mean to hurt you I didn't want to see you go I know I made you cry, but baby If I could turn back time If I could find a way I'd take back those words that'd hurt you And you'd stay If I could reach the stars I'd give 'em all to you Then you'd love me, love me, like you used to do If I could turn back time My world was shattered I was torn apart Like someone took a knife and drove it deep in my heart You walked out that door I swore that I didn't care But I lost everything darling then and there Too strong to tell you I was sorry Too proud to tell you I was wrong I know that I was blind And darling If I could turn back time If I could find a way I'd take back those words that'll hurt you And you'd stay If I could reach the stars I'd give them all to you Then you'd love me, love me, like you used to do, oh If I could turn back time If I could turn back time If I could turn back time If I could turn back time If I could turn back time, whoa baby I didn't really mean to hurt you I didn't want to see you go I know I made you cry, but If I could turn back time If I could find a way I'd take back those words that hurt you If I could reach the stars I'd give 'em all to you Then you'd love me, love me, like you used to do If I could turn back time (turn back time) If I could find a way Then maybe, maybe, maybe You'd stay (Reach the stars) If I could reach the stars (All to you) I'd give 'em all to you
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 8, 1989 | 89 | 37 |
| 2 | Jul 15, 1989 | 77 | 49 |
| 3 | Jul 22, 1989 | 52 | 74 |
| 4 | Jul 29, 1989 | 43 | 83 |
| 5 | Aug 5, 1989 | 34 | 92 |
| 6 | Aug 12, 1989 | 27 | 99 |
| 7 | Aug 19, 1989 | 21 | 105 |
| 8 | Aug 26, 1989 | 17 | 109 |
| 9 | Sep 2, 1989 | 11 | 115 |
| 10 | Sep 9, 1989 | 9 | 117 |
| 11 | Sep 16, 1989 | 7 | 119 |
| 12 | Sep 23, 1989 | 3 | 123 |
| 13 | Sep 30, 1989 | 3 | 123 |
| 14 | Oct 7, 1989 | 5 | 121 |
| 15 | Oct 14, 1989 | 12 | 114 |
| 16 | Oct 21, 1989 | 18 | 108 |
| 17 | Oct 28, 1989 | 27 | 99 |
| 18 | Nov 4, 1989 | 37 | 89 |
| 19 | Nov 11, 1989 | 47 | 79 |
| 20 | Nov 18, 1989 | 64 | 62 |